KIMI RAIKKONEN NEWS

Life in the fast lane is competitive and nobody likes to be second best. Ferrari recently unveiled a new formula one race car, the F14 T, that they hope will make them a winner. Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen helped unveil the new car on Saturday and the name of the car was chosen by an online vote.

The F14 T is powered by a 1.6 liter, turbo V6 power engine and has a unique look. Alonso and Raikkonen are hoping that this new car has what it takes to help them take first place. In the last four years, Alonso has placed second three times and fourth once. Raikkonen has previously raced with Lotus, but has done well, scoring third and fifth place in the last two years.

Together, Alonso and Raikkonen may be unstoppable, especially with the new car.

“Are we the strongest team? We hope to be,” said Raikkonen. “We have the desire to win but only time will tell if we can bring the title back to Ferrari.”

Ferrari has recently revealed some new details about the company’s F1 engine and the switch of driver from Felipe Massa to Kimi Raikkonen.

Speaking at company’s Christmas dinner, Ferraris President Luca di Montezemolo said that it was obvious that he is not happy with the way things went in Formula One but it was a great season for them in GT racing, where they won all over the world.

Talking about Formula One, di Montezemolo said that he is quite happy with some of the rule changes as “Its impossible for Formula 1 to keep going with aerodynamics counting for 90% of the story.” He further stated that next year, reliability and the ability of the drivers to manage the race in a very different way to the past will be vital.

Speaking on the decision to replace Felipe Massa with Kimi Raikkonen, the executive said that Felipe was a real Ferrari man and together, they shared some marvelous times. However, he said that they have taken the right decision, both for the driver and the company.

Talking about the engine, it’s a turbocharged 1.6-liter unit called the 059/3. Per Formula One’s new regulations, the engine is backed up by an electric motor that also acts as a generator.

Kimi Raikkonen has always been his own man, and when he tired of F1 in 2009, he set off for a two-year sabbatical. AUTOSPORT looks back at his rallying, NASCAR and sportscar adventures

KIMI IN RALLYING

The Iceman became the Snowman pretty quickly. Shortly after starting his very first event with the Citroen C4 WRC in 2010 - the Arctic Rally in Finland, a warm-up for Rally Sweden - spectators were treated to the surreal sight of the 2007 Formula 1 world champion digging his own car out of a snowbank.

That would never have happened at Ferrari. But it was a skill that Raikkonen was to practise again on Rally Sweden itself a couple of weeks later, where the icy stages also take no prisoners. The man who Sir Stirling Moss once described as "the fastest driver in the world" turned out to be a dab hand with a shovel as well.

Kimi Raikkonen is currently in the middle of his first official week of work at Ferrari since announcing his return to the team for the 2014 Formula One season.

The former World Champion (pictured, from 2009) arrived in Maranello yesterday for what the Scuderia says will be three days of work both with the team’s engineers and in the simulator.

“It’s good to be back at work,” Raikkonen told Ferrari’s website yesterday. “I began by getting used to all the new systems and procedures that we will use this year. From this point of view, the simulator is really very useful.

“It’s true there’s lots to do, but the workload is not much different to what it was in the past. For me, these days in Maranello are also an opportunity to be with the team and spend a bit more time with my many friends here.”

Kimi Raikkonen was back in Ferrari colours this week for the first time since his acrimonious split from the Italian outfit.

The Finn parted company with Ferrari at the end of the 2009 season after the Maranello team bought him out of the remainder of his contract.
Raikkonen, who won his only Formula One title with the famous constructor in 2007, was replaced by Fernando Alonso.

But after agreeing a surprise return to Italy following a turbulent two-year spell with Lotus -- which ended abruptly amid claims the Finn hadn't been paid -- Raikkonen will now line up alongside Alonso in 2014.
"It's good to be back at work," Raikkonen, who won last year's season-opening Australian Grand Prix, said.
Speaking to the Ferrari website, the 34-year-old added: "I began by getting used to all the new systems and procedures that we will use this year. From this point of view, the simulator is really very useful.

Read more: FORMULA ONE: Raikkonen back in the red of Ferrari - Racing - New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/sports/racing/formula-one-raikkonen-back-in-the-red-of-ferrari-1.463323#ixzz2sC75lsR6

Finn racing driver Kimi Raikkonen is not expecting any issues when he teams up with new race engineer Antonio Spagnolo this season.

The former Lotus man is making his return to Ferrari after a four-year absence, and the 34-year-old has admitted that he is looking forward to forming a successful partnership with Spagnolo. "We worked two years with him with data, he was the data engineer for me," he said. the 2007 World Champion.

"I know him from that time already so basically it wasn't too difficult and I've seen him at some races and we spoke to each other in the paddock last year," Raikkonen added. "For him also it's a bit of a new challenge but he knows the systems and has a lot of experience, I think it should be fine," he continued.

"Obviously we have to start from somewhere and build things together but I don't see any problems or why it wouldn't be good, all new and exciting."

Four seasons after he departed the Scuderia under a cloud, to be replaced with a degree of irony by his new team-mate Fernando Alonso, the Finn has arrived back as F1 undergoes its biggest technical change in, arguably, a quarter of a century.

According to Raikkonen, little has changed at Maranello during the intervening period but it sounds as though home comforts are something the 2007 World Champion might welcome as he starts getting to grips with Ferrari's new F14 T - V6 turbo hybrid engine and all - in Spain next week.

The first pre-season test is where teams hope to familiarise themselves with their new cars but according to Raikkonen, "I think it's going to be a bit more of an unknown situation than in many other years. Now, there's changes on engines and gearboxes and all the electronics, so we have to see how it goes.

"Hopefully, we have no problems and can run the car and check the systems, do normal running that is necessary in the first test every year and get through the programme as smoothly as we can.

"But it's very difficult to say because there's so many new unknowns. Before we run the car next week, we really don't know what to expect."

Author Info

Kimi-Matias Räikkönen born 17 October 1979) is a Finnish racing driver. After nine seasons racing in Formula One, in which he won the 2007 Formula One World Drivers' Championship, he competed in the World Rally Championship in 2010 and 2011. In 2012, he returned to Formula One, driving for Lotus and continued to drive for Lotus in 2013. On September 11, 2013, Ferrari announced their signing of Räikkönen on a two year contract, beginning in the 2014 season.